Morning Brief

In the revised Budget 2023, Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Anwar Ibrahim said that people who were declared bankrupt deserved a second chance and announced several measures that would provide a lifeline to those who find themselves in these unwanted circumstances. We speak to Linnet Lee, CEO of Financial Planning Association of Malaysia to understand why the rise in bankruptcy cases and what are the possible solutions for this issue.

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In the revised Budget 2023, Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Anwar Ibrahim said that people who were declared bankrupt deserved a second chance and announced several measures that would provide a lifeline to those who find themselves in these unwanted circumstances. We speak to Linnet Lee, CEO of Financial Planning Association of Malaysia to understand why the rise in bankruptcy cases and what are the possible solutions for this issue.

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Under the revised Budget 2023, the government increased funding for the Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change (NRECC) and doubled allocations to the Ecological Fiscal Transfer for Biodiversity Conservation. How far do these measures go to protect the environment and wildlife? On World Wildlife Day, we discuss policy recommendations to improve environmental sustainability with forestry researcher Dr. Lim Teck Wyn.

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk presented his long-awaited Master Plan Part 3 during the annual Investor Day conference this week. Musk and his team announced that  assembly costs would be cut by half in future generations of cars, but he did not unveil a small, affordable electric vehicle option as was hoped. What does this bode for the company's outlook? Dan Ives gives us his takeaways from Investor Day and the prospects ahead.

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Prime Minister Dato' Sri Anwar Ibrahim has made social justice and tackling inequality a benchmark of his MADANI philosophy. How well do his Budget 2023 initiatives achieve those aims? We get reactions from Dr. Michael Jeyakumar of Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM).

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Last Saturday marked the 37th anniversary of the “People Power Revolution” that brought down the late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos after two decades of rule. In a twist of fate, the son of the ousted leader is now the President of the country. How is President Ferdinand "Bong Bong" Marcos contending with his family's contentious legacy? We get insights from political analyst Andrea Chloe Wong, who also shares her views on the state of bilateral ties between Malaysia and the Philippines.

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Prime Minister Dato' Sri Anwar Ibrahim has made social justice and tackling inequality a benchmark of his MADANI philosophy. How well do his Budget 2023 initiatives achieve those aims? We get reactions from Dr. Michael Jeyakumar of Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM).

Image credit: Shutterstock

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The government has made tackling cybercrimes a priority, with RM10 million allocated to the National Scam Response Centre in Budget 2023. The Prime Minister has also called for banks to provide a "kill switch" to allow users to freeze their accounts when suspicious transactions are flagged. We speak to cybersecurity expert Dr. Selvakumar Manickam for his recommendations to counter online fraud and scams.

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Budget 2023 introduced a luxury tax which would be implemented this year as a new step to broaden the tax base to those who had the means. However, details on what luxury goods actually are and what rate the tax will be have yet to be finalised. Tan Hai Hsin, Managing Director of Retail Group Malaysia, talks about how the local retail sector might be impacted.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Budget 2023 introduced a luxury tax which would be implemented this year as a new step to broaden the tax base to those who had the means. However, details on what luxury goods actually are and what rate the tax will be have yet to be finalised. Tan Hai Hsin, Managing Director of Retail Group Malaysia, talks about how the local retail sector might be impacted.

Image credit: Shutterstock

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.